For this reason, it is very important in hot, humid weather–and especially when exercising on hot and humid days–to make sure that you adequately replace the salt that your body loses in sweat.
Since sodium is lost when bodies sweat, simply replacing the lost fluid with water actually further contributes to decreased blood sodium. To see how this works, visualize a full glass of salt-water. If you pour out half of the salt-water (as is lost in sweat), and replace it with pure water, making the concentration of sodium in the water far less. The result is hyponatremia.
Studies have shown that ultra-endurance athletes can lose about a 1/4 teaspoon of salt per quart of sweat.
You can tell your body is losing salt if your sweat stings your eyes or tastes salty. The early warning signs of hyponatremia include nausea, muscle cramps, disorientation, slurred speech, confusion, and inappropriate behavior. At the most extreme, hyponatremia can lead to seizures, coma, or death.
The best way to avoid the problems associated with low blood sodium is to plan ahead. Here are some tips.
* At the first sign of symptoms, drink a sports drink containing salt.
* Plan ahead to estimate your fluid loss and need for salt replacement and drink your sports drink BEFORE your body goes into hyponatremia. Find out what your body’s individual fluid needs are and provide for them.
* Eat salty foods before and during exercise.
* Increase salt intake several days prior to scheduled sports events.
While commercial sports drinks do provide the proper balance of sodium and salt, they also contain ingredients that are not so good for your body, such as polluted water, industrial sodium chloride, refined white sugar, and artificial colors. Here’s a recipe for a natural sports drink you can easily make at home.
NATURAL SPORTS DRINK
1 quart good quality water
1/3 cup maple syrup or fresh sugar cane juice
1/4 teaspoon “The Original” Himalayan Crystal Salt
juice of one lemon, or more to taste
1. Mix all the ingredients together.
2. Refrigerate until you are ready to drink it.
When replacing the lost sodium our bodies need to survive, it only makes sense to use the best quality salt that will also contribute to good health.
Crystal salt mined from the Himalayan Mountains is the healthiest salt there is. It is rock salt that has been subjected to enormous pressure over millions of years, which turns the salt into crystals, similar to how diamonds are made. These crystals contain particles of essential life elements that are small enough to penetrate human cells and be metabolized.
In Europe, there has been much testing of water and salt and their relation to health in recent years. The only salt that has been tested in this way is “The Original” Himalayan Crystal Salt. Studies showed that test subjects consuming this salt experienced more physical energy and greater vitality, noticeable hair and nail growth, increased ability to concentrate, increased sexual activity, an overall feeling of enhanced well-being and other positive benefits.
|
Hilde Bschorr is the Owner of Himalayan Living Salt, an online purveyor of natural, unrefined, living salt products. Visit her website at http://www.himalayanlivingsalt.com
|